East Penn Fire Chief Wants Stricter Ordinance To Require Smoke Alarms, Firefighting Water * Kleintop Tells Supervisors The Growing Township Must Act To Make Sure All Buildings Are Safe.

July 02, 1996|by KRISTEN KLICK, The Morning Call

East Penn has been lucky so far, said township Fire Chief Robert Kleintop. With two fires in two months, no one has been hurt.

But the danger has come too close for comfort.

It is time for the township to require that all new buildings be equipped with fire safety mechanisms like water tanks and smoke alarms, Kleintop told the supervisors last night.

"They can be lifesavers," Kleintop said. "We've been really lucky."

The sprawling rural township has depended on ponds, streams, tankers and luck in the past. But with more subdivisions being built and more people moving in, it's time for more rules, he said.

Nobody was injured in the fire yesterday at the former Rehrig's Meat Market, but the building was destroyed. And nobody was injured in the fire on June 4 in a seven-unit apartment building on Route 895, but the smoke sent tenants scurrying and left them stranded on balconies. The complex built three years ago had no smoke detectors.

Also, developers should have to install holding tanks in new neighborhoods to supply water in case of a fire.

"We require all the other things for a subdivision, including roads and septic tanks, but no water source," Kleintop said. "When there's a fire on top of a mountain, we don't have time to drive around looking for a pond."

Tankers can supply the water, but they take precious time to set up, Kleintop said.

The township of about 2,000 people lies between the Lehigh River, Blue Mountain and the Carbon County line. Homes are few and far between and no water system connects them.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded East Penn and Mahoning fire companies a $3,600 matching grant to install "dry hydrants."

The hydrants connect to a natural water body, but provide no pressure. They will help, but not enough, Kleintop said.

"If you have a water tank available, you don't lose the water supply in a drought," he said. "It allows a faster initial attack on the fire."